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Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Lingering Questions After The Lawler Scare

Last night’s Raw gave wrestling fans one of the scarier moments in the sport’s history
when Jerry “The King” Lawler suffered a heart attack at the announcers’ table
while providing color commentary for a match. It
goes without saying that the primary concern of WWE officials, performers, and
fans alike should be Lawler’s speedy recovery. Not only is “The King” a
wrestling legend and a pop culture icon, but more importantly, he’s a father
and a dear friend to countless people both in and out of the wrestling
business. Whether he ever steps into the ring or behind the announce table is
almost a trivial matter when compared to what’s really important—that Lawler
get well and be able to enjoy the rest of his life with health and
happiness. That said, last night’s frightening incident does raise
several important questions, even if right now is not the time to answer
them.

Is it a good idea to have a 62-year-old man wrestle
semi-regularly, or at all?

The answer to that question is probably not as obvious as it
may seem. That’s because not all 62-year-old men are alike. Not only does
Lawler appear to keep himself in good shape, but he also wrestles a fairly
conservative style that should not take as much a toll on his body than if
other wrestlers tried to compete at his age. That said, a more important number
than Lawler’s age may be how long he’s been wrestling (an astonishing 42 years)
and how many hours of travel his body endures each week—especially since he’s been
wrestling at WWE live events as of late. The collective wear and tear of such a
long career could cause serious health issues in a person even half Lawler’s
age. And when you’re pushing senior-citizenship, it could be potentially
life-threatening.

Have we seen the last of Jerry Lawler in the ring or
behind the announce table?We can all be
certain that, at the very least, it will be months before Lawler calls another
WWE match. And it’s a good bet that Vince McMahon won’t allow him to wrestle in
one of his rings ever again. But that doesn’t necessarily mean Lawler’s
wrestling career is over. The fact is, in recent years Lawler has been doing
most of his wrestling on the independent circuit. If, God willing, he gets
better, it may be next to impossible to keep Lawler out of a wrestling ring
permanently. When wrestling is in your blood like it is in Lawler’s, it’s hard
to accept that you’ve wrestled your final match. It’s a little more likely that
Lawler will eventually return to the announce table, but certainly not a given.
Regardless of whether he’s competing in the ring, working for WWE even once a
week comes with a hectic travel schedule and can make it tough to live a
healthy lifestyle.

Should the show have gone on?

It’s a tough question, and one that has haunted WWE for 13
years since the night Vince McMahon chose to go ahead with the Over the Edge
pay-per-view even after Owen Hart fell to his death in the ring. Hindsight is
always 20/20, and WWE could not know how serious Lawler’s situation was until he
was admitted into a hospital and thoroughly examined. The company knew this
much: Lawler was alive and breathing on his own when he left the building.
What’s more, they knew they had a commitment to fill another hour of television
time on the USA Network, and to put on a show for the fans inside the Bell
Centre in Montreal. In the end, I think WWE officials handled the situation as
best they could under the circumstances by having the planned in-ring segments
take place without commentary, and using Michael Cole to regularly update fans.
I’m sure nobody at WWE was much in the mood to work after seeing Lawler taken
away in an ambulance, but they did all have a job to do.

Was it a lot to ask WWE’s Raw announce team to increase its
workload by half when the show was extended to three hours?

It may only amount to an extra hour of work a week, but
WWE’s decision to extend Raw from two hours to three hours in July assured that Lawler
would spend 50 percent more time each Monday in the stressful position of calling
live television. Little has been said about it, but the fact is that the WWE
performers most affected by Raw’s expansion have been its announce team. Regardless of whether
or not the extra work factored into Lawler’s health issues, it had to add a
little more stress to his life.

Are part-time WWE performers, like Lawler, subject to the
company’s Wellness Program, and should they be?

This question could probably be answered with a simple yes
or no by WWE, but it’s not clear at this time. On one hand, as an announcer
working on WWE’s production side, Lawler probably would not be subject to the
wellness policy, which tests performers annually for cardiac issues. On the
other hand, Lawler has been working a semi-regular ring schedule as of late
alongside other WWE wrestlers who are subject to the policy. Certainly, any
62-year-old man would stand to benefit from getting his ticker regularly
checked out, especially before exerting himself in a wrestling match.

Did last night’s situation serve as an example of why WWE
should avoid simulating such grave health scares in the future?

I was only half-paying attention to Raw last night when the Lawler incident
occurred. And so when Michael Cole explained on camera later in the night that
Lawler had passed out at the announce table, I thought the same thing that I
imagine scores of other wrestling fans thought: that this was all part of the
show. And even through the end of Raw, I was still a little skeptical that the Lawler
situation was legitimate. It wasn’t until I visited various credible wrestling
websites that confirmed that Lawler had collapsed that I was convinced that the
situation was all too real. You can accuse me of being too cynical, but the sad
truth is that WWE has cried wolf too many times with staged injuries and other
medical emergencies that they’ve tried their hardest to pass off as legitimate.
It seems like at least once a year a WWE announce team grimly addresses the
fans at home about a storyline development with the same tone that Jim Ross used
on the night Owen Hart died. In as much as WWE is in the drama business, I
understand the need to present everything that happens on its television shows
with a sense of realism. But the goal should be to keep fans’ suspension of
disbelief while they are watching a product that they know is entertainment. It
should not be to fool them. Imagine if the director of 1993’s The Crow put out a sequel to the film and
made up a story about another actor being accidentally shot dead on the set,
just like Brandon Lee was in the original film. It would be deceitful and
tasteless. That’s not too far removed from what WWE has done time and again
since Hart’s death. Think I'm exaggerating? Maybe you should be reminded of
this 2007 press release on WWE's corporate website <http://corporate.wwe.com/news/2007/2007_06_12.jsp> . And so when an actual tragedy
occurs on one of their shows, inevitably some fans are going to be dubious
about whether it’s legit.

Should last night mark the end of the heel Michael Cole
character?

Unquestionably, the wrestling universe’s thoughts and
sympathies should have been with Jerry Lawler and his family in the moments
after he collapsed on television. But, I, for one, couldn’t help but feel for
Michael Cole, who was put in the unenviable position of having to continue
doing his job even as he watched his longtime friend and broadcast partner in a
potentially life-threatening medical emergency beside him. Cole stepped up and
did an admirable job, not only of calling the action until his WWE bosses made
the call to go silent on commentary, but also of updating fans with the latest
information on Lawler’s condition. Cole was sincere, composed, informed,
authoritative, and even brave. It was a reminder of what, at its best, the job
of a play-by-play man in any sport should be. It was also a reminder of how
good Cole could be if he weren’t forced into the money-losing role of the
villainous announcer who hates all things good, including Lawler, and whose
primary task is to steal attention away from the real stars of the show. Cole
is so much better than that, and he showed it last night. Let’s hope he doesn’t
revert back to his old ways.

What becomes of WWE’s announce team?

In the grand scheme of things, this should be the least of
WWE’s concerns. But nevertheless, the reality is that, come next Monday, there
will be an empty seat to fill at the announcer’s table. Mostly likely, it will
be occupied by Josh Mathews, who does a serviceable job with Cole on Smackdown
every Friday night.
With the brand split all but finished, it’s less of an issue now than ever to
have the same announce team call both shows. But, in the long term, WWE needs
to get new and talented announcers in the pipeline for the future. Theexisting announcing roster is rounded
out by the likes of the obnoxious Matt Striker and the overzealous Scott
Stanford. William Regal has shown some promise doing commentary on some of
WWE’s web shows, but his style may be too mellow and subdued for prime time
viewers. Of course, WWE does have a fairly experienced employee on its payroll
by the name of Jim Ross, who just happens to be the greatest wrestling
announcer in history. But it’s become obvious over recent years that Vince McMahon
just does not want Ross as the face of his flagship show. WWE will most likely
scout for young, camera-friendly broadcaster-types, but it should also scout
for older, more-seasoned wrestling veterans, like Lawler. They should even
consider former WWE broadcasters from long ago. In most pro sports, age isn’t a
negative for a broadcaster. It’s a positive, as fans want a wise and
experienced voice calling the action. My wish list would include John Layfield,
Sean Mooney, and Kevin Kelly. WWE might even try out veteran wrestlers with no
past broadcasting experience, like Dustin Runnels, Ron Simmons, and even Edge,
assuming any of them would be interested in the job.